Espanola Island
Today we visited the southeastern-most area of the Galápagos, Espanola Island. This site is one of the most spectacular places in the whole archipelago. Our morning started at Punta Suarez, located on the western corner of the island.
Our nature walk took us through a large colony of Nazca boobies nesting along the cliffs. We felt like we were in the right place at the right time, since we could observe many couples of Nazca boobies not only courting and mating, but also with some chicks at different stages in their lives. It was also interesting to observe how some of the chicks are left on their own while their parents would fly far into the vast ocean for foraging. The chicks would then wait patiently for their parent’s pronto return home; hopefully carrying some delicious fish back with them!
As we got closer to the “blow hole” area, we found the impressive view of the cliff overwhelming. The strength of the water rushing up a crack in the cliff is what produces the blow hole’s thunder-like sound. The fun part to watch was, when a very much-surprised marine iguana got caught on the water rushing up the crack. It was fun to see how species evolve in Galápagos so quickly because the marine iguana became instantly a flying one!
As we returned back on board for lunch we heard all kinds of interesting histories about the mockingbirds climbing over people’s heads and even trying to kiss one of our naturalists!
Lunchtime was also a big deal for our guests today. The galley crew prepared an extraordinary buffet-style Ecuadorian typical lunch. It included some delicacies from all over the different regions of our country and was served and then explained fully by our Hotel Manager, Willy.
The afternoon was nothing less than pure relaxation. It gave us a good chance for swimming and snorkeling from the beach, but for those of us who wanted a more challenging experience, we decided to go to turtle rock. Lots of different types of fish and warm water – what a pleasure!
We returned late in the afternoon with evident happiness in our faces. The Island of Espanola is truly one of the wonders of this archipelago!
Today we visited the southeastern-most area of the Galápagos, Espanola Island. This site is one of the most spectacular places in the whole archipelago. Our morning started at Punta Suarez, located on the western corner of the island.
Our nature walk took us through a large colony of Nazca boobies nesting along the cliffs. We felt like we were in the right place at the right time, since we could observe many couples of Nazca boobies not only courting and mating, but also with some chicks at different stages in their lives. It was also interesting to observe how some of the chicks are left on their own while their parents would fly far into the vast ocean for foraging. The chicks would then wait patiently for their parent’s pronto return home; hopefully carrying some delicious fish back with them!
As we got closer to the “blow hole” area, we found the impressive view of the cliff overwhelming. The strength of the water rushing up a crack in the cliff is what produces the blow hole’s thunder-like sound. The fun part to watch was, when a very much-surprised marine iguana got caught on the water rushing up the crack. It was fun to see how species evolve in Galápagos so quickly because the marine iguana became instantly a flying one!
As we returned back on board for lunch we heard all kinds of interesting histories about the mockingbirds climbing over people’s heads and even trying to kiss one of our naturalists!
Lunchtime was also a big deal for our guests today. The galley crew prepared an extraordinary buffet-style Ecuadorian typical lunch. It included some delicacies from all over the different regions of our country and was served and then explained fully by our Hotel Manager, Willy.
The afternoon was nothing less than pure relaxation. It gave us a good chance for swimming and snorkeling from the beach, but for those of us who wanted a more challenging experience, we decided to go to turtle rock. Lots of different types of fish and warm water – what a pleasure!
We returned late in the afternoon with evident happiness in our faces. The Island of Espanola is truly one of the wonders of this archipelago!
